Low temps in WSM


 
E

Eric T

New member
Hi all, I got a WSM 18" at beginning of last month. I've fired it twice so far making today the third time. First time I made pork butt, and BB ribs the second time. Both camme out quite good.

My problem is that unlike a lot of overheating complains I have read about, I can not seem to get mine past 240. I use Kingsford competition briquettes with the MM method to light them. All bottom vents and the top one are open the entire duration. I measure the grate temperature with a Maverick thermometer and use a calibrated oven thermometer to make sure readings are accurate.

I do use a water pan which is recommended for us newbies. Is that the problem? I have done a lot of research and realise that I can cook without the water pan and that lump burns hotter. Is this a problem to be concerned about or am I fretting for nothing? I read all issues about why temperatures may be low and none of them seem to apply.

Ribs should be ready in another 45 mins. Hope they come out good again, I have not been peeking!

Eric
 
Eric,
From what you describe, you should be getting higher temps. Here are a few things to consider:

Light up to 30 or so briquettes in the chimney. I usually toss a couple of chunks of smoke wood in the chimney as well, waiting until they are black all over before dumping the chimney on the unlit briquettes.
Fill the water pan with hot water.
Wind will cool the cooker down even more so than cold weather.
Take the meat out of the fridge an hour or so before you put it in the cooker.

That's about all I can think of right now. Good luck.

Jeff
 
Jeff makes some great points. My 18.5" cooker is quite the slow cooker as well, but seems MUCH slower to come up to temp if I measure grate temp by the meat.

What I mean is...if you're going to measure temp at the grate, don't worry so much about low temps as long as the meat gets done in a reasonable amount of time. In other words, I've found that if I put a decent sized brisket or butt(s) on the top grate, it'll take a long time for the temp to reach say, 250*, if that's what I'm shooting for. However, I find that there's higher temps coming from the fire BELOW, and that's what's cooking the meat since heat rises. The meat that's sitting even a few inches away from a therm will make the temp appear to be lower than it actually is, for some reason or another, and that's why I measure the temp by hanging a probe or candy/frying therm in the top vent. That's in the "stream of circulation", and I have a good idea that it's not too much lower than any heat that's hitting the outer parts of either grate...a pretty good average temp, if you will.

If you want to skip the water-n-da-pan, go for it. Speaking of the water pan though, if you haven't done so yet, try to find a cheap Brinkman water smoker CHARCOAL pan. I got mine for about $5 at Academy Sports. It fits the brackets just as well as the big OE pan, holds about as much water, but the main thing is that it's FLAT on the bottom. This gives you much more space between the fire and the pan if you want to heap up the charcoal for long cooks, and also makes it much easier to stir the coals well into a cook if needed, like when using Kingsford. The other thing is that the flat bottom makes it hard to turn over when you're done cooking and waiting for the contents to cool off a bit before pouring out the meat drippings.

Regarding skipping the water though, there's no better heat sink for the wsm. You might try a clay pot base, though. A 12" one fits my Brinkman pan nicely, and I was pretty happy with it on my last back rib cook. I don't know if I'll use it on a long overnight cook yet, though.
 
Thanks Jeff and Dave. Going to try a few modifications next time. I think I should have allowed more time for briquettes in the chimney and removed the meat from the fridge sooner. I did use hot water in the water pan and it was a warm day in the 80s with no wind.

Also, the grate thermometer was in proximity of the meat which I will be very careful with next time. I tested the thermometer on the dome. It is pretty accurate and did register higher than the grate as expected but nowhere close to 250. I will be using the average of the two.

Hopefully these will resolve the heat issues. Thanks a lot for the help and advice. I'll keep you posted.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The meat that's sitting even a few inches away from a therm will make the temp appear to be lower than it actually is, for some reason or another </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's because the (relatively) colder meat is blocking the (relatively) hotter air coming up from below, and helping cool it. My grate temp will be a good 40-50 degrees warmer than my lid temp for a good hour or two at the start of the cook.
 
Even hot water isn't going to get above 212F at sea level and lower the higher in altitude you go. That's a lot of thermal mass that needs to be converted to steam before the ambient temperature can get very far above it.

Try a dry water pan like Paul F says above me.
 
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